Too Much Facial Hair

Hair Removal Methods Shaving/Trimming
#1

Hi,

I think Shaving would be fine for me were it not for the PFB…

I already follow the best regimen one can follow in terms of shaving…

I have expensive moisturized shaving cream, I scrub with soap before hand, shave with the grain, use a sharp mach 3 blade…still I’m not having the best results.

I’m reluctant to grow the beard or buy the electric razor/5 o clock shadow because…
my facial hair grows well into my cheeks. There’s too much for it to look normal.

I was wondering if anyone has had any success with:

  1. Bump Stopper
    is it effective? Does it cause acne?

  2. Straight Razors
    I’ve heard these old fashioned razors give a close shave and reduce irritation.

thanks for any help

P.S. I have dark skin so laser isn’t a particularly good option, and I can not currently afford electrolysis.

#2

A good Nd:YAG laser like the Coolglide or the Sciton can be used on dark skin. And they work very well in the beard area.

RJC2001

#3

Hi RJC,

Just a few questions on your laser treatments–how many times did you get laser on your face? Did you notice significantly less hair growth after just one treatment? Compared to your chest and legs, did it take more treatments?

I really like the idea of reducing facial hair but I read somewhere that it can only result in a maximum reduction of 15-20% of the beard. That doesn’t sound like much but it might get rid of the five o’clock shadow effect after shaving and lead to less shaving in general.

As promising as laser sounds, some people wrote that they got pits or wrinkles after laser treatment–what was your experience like? Did it cause a lot of peeling or sensitivity to sunlight afterwards? Some members reported an increase in hair growth–maybe, the setting was too low and actually stimulated the hair follicles which lead to greater hair growth.

Thx,

smoothlover

#4

Hi RJC,

Just a few questions on your laser treatments–how many times did you get laser on your face? Did you notice significantly less hair growth after just one treatment? Compared to your chest and legs, did it take more treatments?

For me, the number of treatments on the beard has been comparable to the number of treatments on my chest. I have not had as many treatments on my legs because they aren’t as hairy! The hair on my legs is not as coarse so we could start with higher fluences. On my chest, the hair got too fine for laser plus I had some very light colored hairs so I switched to electrolysis. Except for maybe 3 or 4 hairs that pop up every once in awhile my chest is hairless. I won’t be getting electro on my beard because I am happy with my results and I was not after total hairlessness there.

For some people, the beard takes more treatments because the hair is very dense (lots of hairs close together) and coarse (each hair is thick). They have to start out a lower fluences or there would be a lot of swelling. I had 40-50% reduction after one Sciton treatment. I have had 8 treatments so far and I am thinking of stopping as I have reached 90% reduction. I have some hair in the chin area, but that doesn’t bother me at all. Now I can skip a day or two of shaving and not look hideous! All the neck hair under the chin area was just ridiculous and it took forever to shave. Now I am mostly rid of that.

Before laser (and IPL) it took me 25-30 minutes to shave, no matter what razor or blade was used. Now it takes 3-4 minutes. When I started I had a thick continuous beard from under my nose down to my neckline. Now I have sparse facial hair and noticebale hair in the chin area.

I really like the idea of reducing facial hair but I read somewhere that it can only result in a maximum reduction of 15-20% of the beard. That doesn’t sound like much but it might get rid of the five o’clock shadow effect after shaving and lead to less shaving in general.

It has definitely helped with the five o’ clock shadow. I wonder where the 15-20% maximum reduction figure originated. Maybe from a disgruntled electrologist or an incompetent laser practitioner. Or someone who had a bad experience and generalized it to everyone.

As promising as laser sounds, some people wrote that they got pits or wrinkles after laser treatment–what was your experience like? Did it cause a lot of peeling or sensitivity to sunlight afterwards? Some members reported an increase in hair growth–maybe, the setting was too low and actually stimulated the hair follicles which lead to greater hair growth.

No, I never had any of those things happen. I stayed out of the sun or used SPF 30 for two weeks after my last beard treatment of the season. With the Nd:YAG lasers you can go out in the sun sooner than with diode or alex lasers. You will definitely be sensitive to the sun after being treated with an alex or diode laser. I never experienced that with the Nd:YAG.

I have also had very good results in my last two treatments with the Cutera Pro Wave 770 IPL. The wavelengths are adjustable on it. I was treated in Program B with medium wavelengths and pulse widths.

There have been reports of increased hair growth with shorter wavelength lasers and IPLs at 650-950 nm. A laser rep that I talked to confirmed that it can happen when a patient is undertreated.

RJC2001

#5

Hi RJC,

Thanks for the detailed first-hand report of your laser treatments! It sounds like it made a major difference in getting your beard growth under control.

As great as laser sounds, I have a few reservations because I remember reading once somewhere on Hairtell about laser deaths and burns! I wonder if that tragedy was really caused by the laser or simply too much anesthetic cream applied to the patient’s body???

Speaking of pain, how would you rate the pain level on a scale of 1-10? Do you use need to use the anesthetic cream to deaden the pain?

There’s a receptionist at one of the companies that I go to and she must have had some kind of laser treatment or micro abrasion using laser back in January–her skin was very red and peeled a lot then and I noticed that her face was smooth and then started to peel again several times over the last few months–the last time was just a few days ago. I don’t know if she had multiple treatments or these are just some side-effects but they shouldn’t last for months in my opinion! The burns, redness and potential peeling kinda scares me off from getting laser treatment.

Regards,

smoothlover

#6

That death was caused by improper use of numbing cream. It may have been a numbing cream using lidocaine, which is not meant to be used over large areas due to the possibility of a systemic reaction. I never used numbing cream and never will. It’s not necessary.

I would rate the pain as 6 or 7 of a scale of 1 to 10. If you have a dense, thick beard, I recommend the Nd:YAG laser. Redness and peeling will most likely not be an issue then. Plus the Nd:YAG can penetrate more deeply into the follicle, which is good because the follicles are likely to be deeper in the beard area.

RJC2001

#7

The numbing topical for this young lady, Shiri Berg, was made at a compounding pharmacy in concentrations exceeding what you get in the regular tubes you get at your local pharmacy, with a doctor’s prescription.

The topical is called Laser gel and it is 10% lidocaine and 10% tetracaine. She spread this stuff on both of her legs (a large area) and wrapped her legs in plastic wrap. There is no wondering here why she died.

Lidocaine in concentrations of 4% and 5% shouldn’t cause a problem as long as you follow the directions. I agree with RJC that one should just try to do without it if possible.

Dee

#8

both deaths were causing by using too much numbing cream (which I also agree is not necessary, I never used it) of high lidocaine concentration 10% instead of 4% on a very large area. Burns (which can cause peeling) are also only possible by an inexperienced tech using too high of settings on your skin type etc, – something that is not an issue with a reputable person who knows what they’re doing as with any other procedure out there, laser hair removal or not. If those are your only concerns, they shouldn’t prevent you from getting treatments if you’re looking for this type of result.